If you follow type 2 diabetes forums, you may have come across users suggesting turning to essential oils — often for managing blood sugar, treating symptoms, or even curing the disease. While these oils may be considered a more “natural” therapy, they also may have side effects, which is why there are many things you need to know before giving them a try in your diabetes management plan.

What Are Essential Oils Made of and Can They Cure Diabetes?

Essential oils are derived from plants, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t potent. For instance, it takes 50 lemons to make a 15-milliliter (mL) essential oil bottle; 3 pounds (lbs) of lavender flowers are used in a 15 mL bottle; and there are 105 lbs of rose petals in a 5mL bottle, according to Doterra, a brand of essential oils.

They’re powerful, and as lovely as they smell, they need to be taken seriously. First, it’s important to cut through the chatter you may have heard: Essential oils will not reverse diabetes or treat it in lieu of more traditional approaches. “None of the essential oils are significantly potent enough to serve as diabetes medication,” says Rasa Kazlauskaite, MD, an associate professor in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

What the Research Says About Using Essential Oils to Treat Diabetes

There are a few ways you can incorporate essential oils into your diabetes management routine — some recommended, and some not. Well-meaning friends or family may come to you saying that essential oils will fix the condition or cure diabetic neuropathy, and say there’s research behind it, but the truth is that there is limited research on essential oils.

Is It Safe or Beneficial to Add Essential Oils to Your Food?

While you may hear people suggesting you add these oils to your food, taking essential oils orally can be a gamble. “I do not believe in ingesting any essential oil, whether you have type 2 diabetes or not. I don’t feel that it’s safe,” says Donna Audia, RN, of the inpatient integrative medicine team at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Audia is a proponent of essential oils and regularly uses them as aromatherapy in her patients.

She points to statements from both the Alliance of International Aromatherapists (AIA) and the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), noting that you should not ingest the oils unless your doctor explicitly tells you to do so. “AIA does not endorse internal therapeutic use (oral, vaginal, or rectal) of essential oils unless recommended by a healthcare practitioner trained at an appropriate clinical level,” their statement reads. Similarly, the NAHA states that you should not take them internally without a health professional’s guidance.

The Potential Risks of Using Essential Oils for Diabetes Management

As Audia mentions, essential oils are volatile chemicals that can have side effects, like burning mucous membranes in your GI system, and there’s also the issue that they can potentially interact with medication you’re taking. Some can bring out sedative properties of certain prescriptions, while others can enhance diuretics, which can have dangerous ramifications on your blood pressure.

While Dr. Kazlauskaite also doesn’t recommend taking essential oils by mouth, she does recommend getting those properties from food. “I don’t believe it’s better to take this oil as opposed to sprinkling cinnamon in your food or using pepper to cook with,” she says. Diabetes-friendly spices, like coriander, cardamom, and curry, will help improve the taste of your food so you can cook with less salt and sugar and other additives, she notes — both of which will benefit the health of those with diabetes.

Should You Use Essential Oils Topically or in Aromatherapy?

Even though rubbing oils on your skin seems harmless enough, there are considerations if you’re going to use this application approach. “The skin is our largest organ, and we can absorb essential oils into our body, where they may also interact with medication,” says Audia.

“Don’t treat it like perfume. It’s not. It’s like a medication,” adds Denine Rogers, RDN, an integrative dietitian, nutritionist, and herbalist in Douglasville, Georgia. For her part, she also likes to use essential oils, but she says you still need to approach them cautiously.

How Essential Oils Might Help Treat Diabetic Neuropathy

One place that some healthcare providers like to use essential oils is with diabetic neuropathy, says Rebecca Denison, RD, CDE, a doctor of integrative medicine at the Geckle Diabetes & Nutrition Center at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Maryland. Lavender may be particularly helpful, she says, when massaged into feet to improve circulation and decrease pain. If you're using it topically, she says, dilute one or two drops of essential oil in a carrier oil (like coconut) before applying to your skin; straight oils can cause irritation.

For all these reasons, it’s essential to be up-front with your healthcare team about what essential oils you’d like to use topically. This may be scary at first if you worry your practitioner isn’t friendly toward integrative therapies, but it’s something you two need to talk about.

Why Using an Essential Oil Diffuser May Help Reduce Diabetes-Related Stress

One place where essential oils shine is when they’re used as aromatherapy — where you place the oils in a diffuser and inhale the scent — to offer a potential source of stress relief, which is important in dealing with the disease. “People with diabetes are under stress. Anything that helps to release that stress, doctors will be happy about,” says Kazlauskaite. Finding comfort and calm may also help keep blood sugar levels lower, she notes.

What to Know Before You Try Essential Oils to Better Control Diabetes

Whether or not you choose to incorporate essential oils into your routine safely is your decision. If you do, follow these guidelines for adding them into your treatment plan:

Think small when you’re first starting out. Aim for a baby dosage, says Audia. She recommends diluting one drop of essential oil into 2 ounces of carrier oil, if you’re using it. If you’re going the aromatherapy route, use a diffuser for just 15 minutes.

Use the oils cautiously. As Audia notes, we attach memories to scent. While that can be a very good thing — think about how warm and fuzzy you feel with the scent of fir trees during the holidays — it can also backfire if you surround yourself with that scent during a rough time. Smelling that scent can create a stress response later on, she notes.

Buy and store your essential oils correctly. Look for those that are pure or organic, recommends Rogers. And store in a cool, dark place, otherwise they can break down under heat or light.

Find an oil scent you love. “The important thing is to find a scent that makes you feel good,” says Audia. A few to consider for aromatherapy:

Lavender This is the quintessential botanical for helping calm down your nervous system and inducing relaxation.

Sweet Orange “Kids often find this relaxing, while adults find it uplifting,” says Audia. If you need a burst of energy, gravitate toward citrus.

Cypress If you like to be outdoors, this woodsy scent can help you feel like you’re connecting with nature, Audia notes.